A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello there! Welcome to Volume 127 of Dovi’s Digest.
Over the last ten days, I’ve found myself in a community that is a little outside my comfort zone. Sure, on a basic level we’re pretty much the same: we look similar, talk about the similar things, and for the most part live life in a similar way. There are some marked differences though. For one thing they don’t get sarcasm which is greaaaaat. Another is that they live a much glitzier life to what would be normal in South Africa. I expected people to be glammed up, but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. It was like a convention for people who own Gucci belts, Ferragamo loafers, and Rolexes. And these were for the masses. The others differentiated themselves with Hermes ties, what I’m told are Valentino shoes, and diamonds. Lots and lots of diamonds.
Needless to say, I felt a bit cowed by this crowd. I don’t have $1000 to throw around willy nilly on clothes, never mind on just a belt. So, I decided to take a swim in the counterfeit luxury goods market. What started as mild interest in fitting took me down a surprisingly deep rabbit hole. Back in the day, fake Nikes were called Mikes, Vuitton bags were called Voltron, and both looked so damn fake that it was a waste buying them. Not so today. A good fake pair of Gucci sneakers will set you back $250 (not all that far off the real things in absolute terms), and can be practically indistinguishable from the real thing, so much so that the brands hire experts in counterfeiting to help them determine what is real and what isn’t. This week’s headline article goes deeper into what makes the fake market so hard to stop, and how the brands are trying anyway. Enjoy!
Do you enjoy the Digest? Would you like it to get better? Then please consider sharing it, as the more articles I’m sent, the better it is. It only takes a few seconds, and all you need to do is click here 👇. Thank you!
There were FIVE correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Chaim Ehrlich, Josh Hazan, Tanya Perel, Hazel Levine, and Ariel Subotzky. The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
If counterfeit luxury goods hold no sparkle, there are other things to keep you entertained. Learn why creating a toaster from scratch is ridiculously tough and expensive (and why our economies of scale are amazing), the culinary genius of the frosted tipped and fire shirted Guy Fieri, how solitude can make you more social, the most beautiful road in the world, how wealth was flaunted 7000 years ago (it wasn’t Gucci), and why one of the world’s great architects work took so long to be exhibited.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Spot The Difference: The Invincible Business Of Counterfeit Goods
Selling cheap fakes of a successful product makes horribly good business sense. Is there any way to stop it?
If You Wish to Make a Toaster from Scratch, You Must First Invent the Universe.
A heroic attempt to build a simple electric appliance from nothing.
121 Minutes with Guy Fieri
A trip to the ranch with America’s most misunderstood chef.
Before You Can be With Others, First Learn to be Alone
Being good with yourself makes you better with others.
The Kystriksveien: Earth's most beautiful road trip?
Bucking and weaving along the rugged contours of Norway's fractured coastline, the 670km road to the Arctic is a triumph of human ingenuity and perseverance.
Varna Man and the Wealthiest Grave of the 5th Millennium BC
Yes, that is exactly what it looks like.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Final Gift
Staff at the Guggenheim like to refer to the museum’s building as the most important object in its collection. So why did it take fifty years to stage a major exhibition of its architect’s work?
Quote of the Week:
“You’re only as young as the last time you changed your mind.” – Timothy Leary
Facts of the Week:
The world's largest timber-framed structure is a replica of Noah's Ark at a Christian theme park in Kentucky.
In 2004, a boat in Texas capsized because everyone ran to one side to look at a nudist beach.
In 2012, a smuggler was arrested at the Smuggler's Inn, Washington, after arriving in a car with the licence plate SMUGLER.
Seven US states have not produced a single billionaire.
The famous sign “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” isn't in Las Vegas but in Paradise, Nevada.
There are more rooms in the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas than there are people in the town of Bellagio in Italy.
It's illegal for citizens of Monaco to go to the casino at Monte Carlo.
The first James Bond film was released on the same day as the first Beatles single.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
You might need a pen and paper for this one: Place eight queens on the chess board below so that no queen is threatening another. That means no two queens can share the same row, column, or diagonal.
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Take the given words, and by moving a single letter from one word to the other (can be left → right or right → left), make a pair of synonyms, or near-synonyms.
For example: Given Hip - Boast, move the “s” from “Boast” to “Hip,” which creates Ship - Boat.
1. Open - Cop
2. Cave - Curt
3. Cares - Pest
4. Salve - Savage
5. Whiled – Spurn
Answer:
1. Pen - Coop
2. Carve - Cut
3. Caress - Pet
4. Save - Salvage
5. Whirled - Spun